To tune up your lawn it is good to do the following. One or more of the following may be applicable. How the lawn should be repaired really has a lot to do with what is causing the problems.

These are some things that can help:

Thatching- especially if you have cool weather grasses, moss instead of lawn, or a lot of dead material in your lawn. Experts recommend thatching cool weather grasses once every 3 years. (For on dethatching a lawn.)

Aerating- this helps to soften hard soils. It also allows deepen penetration of air water and fertilizer into the soil. The main purpose of aeration is to allow roots to go deeper and eventually create thick, self-sustaining turf.

Regular mowing- never mow more than 1/3 of the blade at a time.The general rule is mow high, mow often.For more information see our article on mowing.Mow more frequently during peak growing seasons and less frequently during slow grow seasons.

Fertilizing often also helps maintain a thick healthy turf. With the advent of slow release fertilizers, one can usually get away with fertilizing every two months during periods of active growth. In the northwest, this would be about 4 times a year.

Top soil or topdressing is also a good idea, especially when the soil is lacking in organic material.It can also be very good to use when you are over seeding.

Over seeding. With cool weather grasses this is best to do in the spring or in the fall. With warm weather grasses it is best to over seed in the late spring or early summer. If it never gets cold where you live, we can overseed any time the grass is actively growing. The most important thing to remember when overseeding is to water your lawn daily and keep the grass seed and seedlings wet. This will affect the germination rate of the new seed. Learn more about seeding a lawn

At the beginning of February, I’m sure that I had the worst looking lawn in our entire neighborhood. Today is a first week of May, and if you go through our neighborhood now, you’ll find out I have one of the best looking lawns. How did this change come about? Is it something that you can do with your own lawn? Is there a great way to turn your neighbors green with envy?

There is a lot to do if you want to take your lawn from zero to hero. The first thing that you need to do is you need to borrow or rent a lawn dethatcher. This allows you to remove the bare spots in your lawn, and also remove all of the unhealthy grass that will keep it from looking great. Using a thatcher is kind of like giving your lawn a facelift. After years and years of less-than-perfect care, most lawns will develop a thatch layer. Removing this thatch build up will be like giving your lawn a facelift, and it will make it look a lot younger and healthier too.

After you thatch, the next step is to aerate your lawn. Aerating helps to strengthen the roots by encouraging water to go down deeper into the soil. Aerating also helps new grass seed to get established. I have one area in my front lawn where the grass is growing like crazy, where it came up through the holes that were left in the lawn by the aerator.

When you seed your lawn, make sure to use a light covering of topsoil. We just went and bought a yard of topsoil from the local nursery. 1 yard of topsoil will be enough for you to cover about 1,500 square feet of lawn. Once you do that, you want to put some fertilizer on top of your lawn, and make sure to water it regularly for the next 4 to 6 weeks. You know that your lawn is in good shape, after you have had a chance to mull over it, and all of the dead spots are filled by the new grass.

If you have to rent your own thatching machine and lawn aerator, you can still repair your full lawn for less than $200. The cost of replacing a lawn with sod is generally $3-$5,000.